This month, for the first time, Bel Cantanti Opera Company and the Nicolae Bretan Music Foundation are joining forces to promote the composer’s legacy and Romanian music and culture in a recital. The program will feature soprano Esther Tonea, baritone Robin McGinness, and Bel Cantanti artistic director and pianist Katerina Souvorova. Sponsored by the Foundation, the program is comprised of duets and arias from two of Bretan’s operas as well as art songs by him and other Romanian composers. “His daughter, Judit, had devoted most of her life to making sure her father’s works are shared,” said Tonea, of the legacy the composer already carries. According to The Washington Post, Judit lived for a long time in Fairfax County, passing away there in 2018. She had also been president of the Foundation.
Bretan’s art songs include texts by famous Romanian poets such as Octavian Goga. Speaking to choosing pieces for the program, Tonea said “I spent a good chunk of the COVID years sourcing Romanian music. It’s very hard to access unless you’re in a university library in Romania. So, I did a lot of research in 2021 and 2022 compiling music.” Of working with McGinness, she said, “I’ve done a couple of Romanian recitals before, but they were solo, so it’s really nice to have another singer be part of it.” For McGinness, this experience has included a new language to add to his repertoire. “I have not sung in Romanian before,” he said, “I would describe it as being a combination of Russian and Italian, the beautiful things and hard things of both…It’s fairly phonetic once you understand how it works.”
The program itself was created with much care and consideration to make sure the pieces go well together. “Originally, we wanted to come up with a mix of songs and feature a little bit from opera as well,” said Tonea. “There’s really not a lot for baritone and soprano in Romanian repertoire. As most operas are, the big stuff is soprano and tenor. So I was thinking that themes could work together. When planning an independent recital, grouping by theme is nice, especially if you have a mix of composers that you’re trying to put together.” McGinness added, “Something else to think about is how to break up the vocal and emotional pacing, so you have sad, fast, happy.” Tonea continued, “There’s a lot of mourning music. A lot of Romanian music has the sadness and depth of the countryside and complexity of emotion in that sense, but we are both singing fun, flirtatious songs, too…They provide dramatic contrast. It’s been a challenge to figure out the order of the program, but here we are!”
Speaking to how the program came about outside of Bel Cantanti’s regular season, Tonea said, “The idea first came from Katerina, because for years she has been acquainted with the Nicolae Bretan Foundation…Because they have been sponsors multiple times, she wanted to do a concert featuring their namesake composer so that we could give back and create another opportunity for people.” According to Souvorova, the Foundation has been a staunch supporter of the company ever since they attended a production about fifteen years ago. “When we started working with Esther, we said, ‘OK, now we have a Romanian singer,’” she said, referring to Tonea, “‘Why don’t we re-establish a connection and sing something in Romanian?’…They’ve supported us no matter what we were doing, so that’s why I wanted to do it.”
Regarding the style of music and what the audience can expect to hear on this program, Souvorova added, “It’s late Romantic music. For me, it has some similarities to Wagner.” McGinness agreed: “The opera excerpts are very Wagner-esque.” But, there is also some lighter music to enjoy on the program. “Operetta is very popular in the Romanian culture,” said Tonea, “so there are a lot of singable, easy-to-digest melodies in certain sections…For example, the piece ‘Muzika’ is from the larger piece The Waves of the Danube that’s been turned into a movie as well, but it’s all about music and personifying music as a woman…There’s also a lot of inspiration from Romanian folk dances.” McGinness added, “It’s interesting because in a lot of the operas, there are massive ossias written, so it’s intended to be done by someone who is a tenor or a bass…The ossias range from different notes to octave displacements.”
There will be two performances of the program. “We have two versions of this recital,” said Tonea. “There’s an invitation-only on the 18th at the Chevy Chase Club, and then there is a public concert on the 23rd.” One of the community partners Tonea was able to bring was Romanians of DC. On the 18th there will be a spokesperson from the organization reciting Romanian poetry at the recital. Tonea said, “They reached out to their network and found a Romanian writer who is going to recite three short poems, all by female poets. So we’ll break up the program in that way as well.”
The recital also has personal significance for Tonea. “My parents immigrated a few years before the assassination of Ceaușescu, and they haven’t been back since, but my mom might go next year when I’m doing my European debut, we might do a little side trip to Romania.” Meanwhile, the connection of the Romanian community remains strong even for those in the diaspora who have not yet visited. “Being part of the festivals through Romanians of DC and the Romanian embassy has been amazing, because it’s such a huge network, and there are so many amazing people, and I am so excited to be able to perform this music for them.”
Altogether, this performance will be a wonderful celebration and experience of Romanian culture as well as beautiful music. Souvorova on the piano can make it seem like an entire orchestra is playing. She is one of the most supportive collaborative pianists in our area. Tonea, as a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, is a truly beautiful soprano making her European debut next year, and McGinness is the consummate performer, a baritone with both beauty of tone and amazing flexibility in his range. Bravi to all three of them for creating this program and bringing not only a taste of home to the Romanian community in our area, but also an opportunity for those outside the community to experience their world.
Maggie Ramsey
Songs of Romania
Nicolae Bretan – ‘Mi-am făcut un cântec,‘ ‘Vin sub plopul,’ ‘Casa noastră,’ ‘Pace,’ ‘Pe înserate,’ ‘Parasit,’ ‘Nu-l smulg, nu’ (Golem), ‘Mors Magna,’ ‘Ce-ți pasă chip de lut’ (Luceafărul), ‘Noi,’ ‘Odat’ vorbind cu el… Lǎsa-ți lumea ta uitatǎ’ (Luceafărul); Tiberiu Brediceanu – ‘Cine m-aude cântând,’ ‘Floricica de pe apă’; George Stephanescu – ‘Mandrulița de la munte’; Ciprian Porumbescu – ‘Dragul meu din munte’ (Crai Nou); Natase Jonescu – ‘Fă-ne Doamne iar copii’; George Grigoriu – ‘Muzica’ (Valuriile Dunǎrii); Eduard Caudella – ‘Ochi albaştri’; George Cavadia – ‘Umbra’
Esther Tonea – Soprano; Robin McGinness – Baritone; Katerina Souvorova – Piano
Bethesda, MD, November 23, 2025
Top image: Soprano Esther Tonea. Photo by Victor Xie.